THAI FOREST BULLETIN

A REVIEW OF POTHOS L. (ARACEAE: POTHOIDEAE: POTHOEAE) FOR THAILAND (P.C. BOYCE)
margins variously inrolled, base short or somewhat long-clawed, apex rounded to acute
with a tiny rather stout mucro, greenish to maroon; spadix stipitate; stipe terete in cross
section, 5–10 by ca 1 mm, erect, the distal part erect to bent through 270°, greenish to
maroon; fertile portion globose or ovoid to subclavate, 4–10 by 3.5–10 mm, yellow green
to off white. Flowers ca 1–2 mm diam. Infructescence with 1–5 berries; fruit obclavate,
1–1.75 by 1–1.5 cm, mid-green ripening to deep scarlet.
Thailand.— NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan, Lampang, Phrae,
Sukhothai, Phitsanulok; NORTH-EASTERN: Phetchabun, Loei, Nakhon Phanom; EASTERN:
Chaiyaphum; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi, Phetchaburi; CENTRAL: Nakhon Nayok;
SOUTH-EASTERN: Prachin Buri, Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat;
PENINSULAR: Surat Thani, Phangnga, Phuket, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang,
Songkhla, Pattani.
Distribution.— Madagascar to India and Sri Lanka (type), through Bangladesh to
SW China, south Indonesia through Peninsular Malaysia to Borneo and the Philippines.
Ecology.— On trees and rocks in primary and secondary wet to dry lowland to
hill evergreen tropical to subtropical forest, occasionally on sea cliffs, on a variety of
substrates including clay, limestone or granite; altitude 0–2100 m.
Vernacular.— Kho kio (คอกิ่ว)
(Surat Thani, Yala); cha khep (จะเข็บ) (Central, Lao),
ta khep (ตะเข็บ) (Central); kao kin bai-lek, kao kin bai noi (Trang), ta khap (Chon Buri),
wai mai (Myanmar: Shan, Shan dialect), wai so toi (Chon Buri), wai tamoi (หวายตะมอย)
(Trat, Uttaradit); wai saloi (หวายสะลอย) (Nong Khai); wai nu (หวายหนู) (Chiang Rai); namae-ka-ting
(นะแมะกะติง) (Malay–Pattani).
Uses.— In China the plants are used as blood coagulant, principally for wounds.
Fruits and leaves made into a compress [Keenan et al. 3281 (GH)].
Notes.— Pothos scandens is unmistakable in its typical aspect, carrying rather
small inflorescences on bent peduncles. However, the species is highly variable. Some
populations comprise high-climbing plants bearing tiny inflorescences (Beusekom
& Smitinand 2150, Geesink et al. 7250, Larsen et al. 44267 and Smitinand 2959 are
representative of this element). Other populations (collections include e.g. Phusomsaeng
188, Larsen 9524, Kasin 366) produce rather large inflorescences not exhibiting the bent
peduncle until very late anthesis or during early infructescence development.
8. Pothos wallichii Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 553. 1893; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 129
(sub. P. barberianus var. wallichii). 1925; P.C.Boyce & A.Hay, Telopea 9: 521. 2001.—
Pothos barberianus Schott var. wallichii (Hook.f.) Ridl., Mat. Fl. Malay Penins. 3: 49.
1907 & Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 129. 1925. Fig. 2 D–E.
Slender, (heterophyllous?), root-climbing hemiepiphyte. Stem ca 6 mm diam., subterete.
Leaves dense. Petiole slender, 6–9 cm long; petiolar sheath margins inrolled and
thus sheath not prominent, extending to just below pulvinus, basally clasping, apically
briefly ligulate; lamina lanceolate to lanceolate-elliptic, 6–16 by 2–5 cm, base acute to
obtuse, apex acute to acuminate, very briefly apiculate; primary lateral veins arising at ca
80°, very fine, stiffly but thinly chartaceous, drying dull greenish. Flowering shoot leafy,
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